LB 


UC-NRLF 


,    Kva   M . 

Airierican  literattire   as   a  means   of 
civic   education   in   the    secondary   schools 


Term  paper   in  Education  200   -  200B, 
May   1922. 


o 


KDUCATION  DEPT. 


LANGE  LIBRARY  OF  EDUCATION 

UNIVERSITY  OF   CALIFORNIA 

BERKELEY.  CALIFORNIA 


/ 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE  AS  A  MEANS  OF  OIVIG  EDUCATION 
IN  THE  SECONDA  .Y  SCHOOLS 


TERM      PAPER 


by 


EVA  M.    bTONE 


in 
EDUCATION        200-200B 

Aug.    21,    1921  May  1,    1922 

DR.    L Alias's   SEMINAR 
in 
CIVIC      EDUCATION 


y'''^^iot-<>fi^<A^>fyj 


Y- 


375 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE  AS  A  MEANS  OF  CIVIC  EDUCATION 


I.  Relation  of  language  and  literature  to  Civi^/Education. 

A.  Every  American  child  should  be  given  a  knowledge  of  English 
literature,  together  with  training  in  the  use  of  the  English 
Language . 

1,  In  the  interest  of  the  individual. 

2.  In  the  interest  of  national  unity. 

a.  Mistakes  in  the  English  Educational  system. 

b.  Danger  of  Vocational  Education  in  this  country. 

B.  Every  American  child  should  be  given  an  adequate  knowledge 
of  American  Literature. 

1.  In  the  interest  of  the  individual. 

2.  In  the  interest  of  national  unity. 

3.  In  the  interest  of  national  literature. 


II.  More  emphasis  should  be  placed  on  American  literature  in  the 
high  school. 

A.  One  semester  should  be  required. 

B.  Time  -  the  eleventh  year. 
G,   Content. 

a.  History  of  American  Literature,  with  illustrative 
masterpieces. 

b.  Essays  and  addresses  of  American  statesman. 


III.  An  suialysis  of  the  content  of  Lowell's  "Democracy"  in  the 
light  of  the  objectives  of  Civic  Education. 

A.  Biography  of  Lowell. 

B.  Essay  on  "Democracy." 

1.  Intellectual  objectives. 

2.  Feeling  and  conduct  objectives. 


677646 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/americanliteratuOOstonrich 


I 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE  AS  A  MEANS  OF  CIVIC  EDUCATION 


It  has  been  said  that  the  most  conspicuous  character is tie  of 
"the  human  animal  is  his  imperviousness  to  ideas.  Those  who  are  in- 
clined to  accept  this  view  will  find  an  excellent  example  in  point 
in  the  fact  that  until  the  recent  war  the  English  people  never  awak- 
ened to  the  necessity  of  training  all  English  children  in  a  know- 
ledge of  the  English  language  aind  literature.  Until  recently  the 
education  of  the  upper  classes  in  England  has  been  almost  entirely 
confined  to  mathematics  and  the  classics.  A  knowledge  of  the  Eng- 
lish langua^je  and  literature  came  as  a  by-product  of  classical  study. 
In  the  English  universities  English  had  no  position  and  formed  no 
part  of  the  recognized  sttidies.  On  the  other  hand,  the  lower  class- 
es of  English  children  were  given  a  purely  industrial  education  that 
fitted  them  to  be  skilled  mechanics,  engineers,  or  what  not.   The 
natural  result  of  this  has  been  that  the  working  people  came  to  feel 
that  "literature,  for  the  most  part,  expressed  the  point  of  view  of 
the  middle  and  upper  classes  and  that  any  attempt  to  teach  them  lit- 
erature or  art  was  an  attempt  to  impose  upon  them  the  culture  of  an- 
other class."  This  state  of  affairs  has  been  all  the  more  disastrous 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  folk  literature  has  been  crushed  out  by 
modern  industrial  conditions.  In  this  way  the  people  have  been  cut 
off  from  the  whole  world  of  aesthetic  enjoyment  of  music  and  verse 
that  vitalized  the  common  life  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth.   Life  has 
become  barren,  and  the  starved  aesthetic  nature  has  consoled  it- 
self with  the  moving  pictxare,  of  which  the  man  is  a  mere  spectator 
and  in  which  he  has  no  creative  part .  It  may  well  be  that  in  this 
state  of  affairs  many  a  potential  poet,  for  want  of  a  nobler  outlook, 
has  joined  the  ranks  of  the  soap-box  orator  in  the  socialistic  meet- 
ing. 

In  the  January  number  of  the  current  "Atlantic",  Caroline  F.  E. 
Spurgeon,  of  London,  in  a  discussion  of  the  revolutionary  report  of 
the  recent  Committee  on  British  Education,  sets  forth  the  evil  re- 
sults of  this  dual  system  of  education  thus:   "Much  of  our  social 
discord,  sxispicion,  and  bitterness,  of  our  industrial  warfare  and 
unrest,  is  owing  to  this  gulf  between  classes,  between  industry  and 
culture,  emphasized  by  the  gulf  between  educated  and  \ineducated 
speech;  and  nothing  would  do  more  to  bridge  this  chasm  than  a  com- 
mon education,  fundamentally  English,  resulting  in  a  common  pride 

and  joy  in  the  national  langxiage  and  literature". "Literature 

is  the  most  direct  and  lasting  communication  of  the  ejq^erience  of 
man  to  men.  Literature  is  not  only  close  to  life,  but  it  is  a 

means  of  life". "For  English  children  no  form  of  knowledge  can 

take  precedence  of  a  knowledge  of  English,  no  form  of  literatvire 
can  take  precedence  of  English  literature,  and  the  two  axe  so  in- 
extricably connected  as  to  form  tiie  only  possible  basis  for  a 

national  education". "The  delusion  that  the  people  as  a  whole 

should  have  only  manual  or  vocational  training,  such  as  fits  them 
to  be  miners  or  engineers  or  cooks,  is  the  educational  lie  in  the 
soul." "The  lesson  in  English  is  not  merely  the  occasion  for 


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the  inculcation  of  knowledge — it  is,  a^  initiation  into  the  corporate 
life  of  man". 

If  this  narrow,  one-dimensional  education  has  worked  havoc  in 
England  by  eliminating  a  common  language,  and  a  common  intellectual 
heritage  of  ideas  and  ideals,  it  would  be  still  more  disastrous  in 
our  own  country,  not  only  because  of  the  geographical  extent  of  our 
country  and  the  varied  races  among  our  citizens,  but  because  in  a 
democracy  such  as  ours  where  viniversal  suffrage  prevails,  it  is  es- 
sential that  each  citizen  have  as  broad  and  unified  an  education  as 
possible  since  the  success  of  o\ir  experiment  must  ultimately  depend 
upon  the  "collective  wisdom  of  the  people  as  a  whole". 

Although  American  Education  long  ago  recognized  the  importance 
of  teaching  the  English  langiiage  and  literature  both  as  a  means  of 
personal  cult\ire  for  the  individxial  and  as  a  means  of  unifying  omx 
heterogeneous  population,  the  "educational  lie"  referred  to  by  Prof. 
Spurgeon  has  been  gaining  a  considerable  following  among  the  ad- 
herents of  vocational  and  industrial  education  in  this  country. 
Courses  in  so-called  "business  English"  look  upon  the  language  chief- 
ly, if  not  exclusively,  as  a  tool  by  which  financial  success  may  be 
achieved,  and  not  at  all  as  an  instrument  for  the  expression  of  the 
aesthetic  nature  of  man.   Drill  in  language  is  made  as  arid  and  mechani 
ioal  as  the  multiplication  table.   Language  as  "fossil  poetry"  never 
comes  within  their  ken,  but  language  as  the  stock-in  trade  of  fossil 
teachers  is  made  the  pabulum  of  class  instruction.  Verily  "the 
hungry  sheep  look  up  and  are  not  fed"  .'  On  the  other  hand,  the 
instruction  in  literature  in  the  intermediate  and  upper  high  school, 
takes  on  a  technical  and  formal  quality,  equally  remote  from  life. 
Literary  criticism  and  matters  of  interest  only  to  the  literary 
specialist  are  expounded,  largely  to  the  exclusion  of  the  significance 
of  the  masterpiece  in  terms  of  hvunan  life,  past,  present,  and  fut- 
ure.  Considered  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  ob3  8Ctives  of  Civic 
Education  as  developed  in  this  seminar,  both  our  theory  and  o\ar 
practice  in  teaching  the  English  language  and  literature  will  have 
to  be  radically  changed  if  these  important  factors  in  shaping  national 
life  are  to  function  at  full  value. 

In  the  teaching  of  English  literature  in  American  secondary 
schools,  the  major  attention  has  always  been  directed  to  the  English 
masterpieces.   In  fact,  collections  of  poems  for  use  in  high  schools 
have  excluded  American  authors  entirely.   Such  a  procedure  may  be 
fully  justified  on  the  universal  groxind  of  art,  but  it  cannot  be 
justified  on  national  grounds.  Every  American  child  is  entitled  to 
its  American  inheritance — the  vital  experiences  of  our  forefathers 
as  embodied  in  our  literature,  for  even  in  literature  a  man  without 
a  country  is  a  starved  being. 

Dr.  Lange  has  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  every  child 
born  in  this  country  must  be  Americanized.   The  child  comes  from  a 
foreign  shore;  he  must  learn  a  new  language,  he  must  adapt  himself  to 
new  conditions,  he  must  acquire  the  ideas  and  ideals  of  his  newly- 
adopted  country.   Education  is  the  process  by  which  the  child  is 
gikided  in  the  acquiring  of  all  this  experiense.   Language  be- 
comes of  fundamental  importance,  since  not  only  does  comm\inication 
depend  upon  it  but  the  power  of  thinking  itself.  Hence  every  American 


*  '  . *'  . 

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child  should  be  taught  to  speak  and  write  good  English  and  to  ac- 
quire as  large  a  vocabulary  as  possible,  as  both  understanding  and 
expression  axe   limited  by  the  child's  knowledge  of  words.  Through 
experience  the  child  will  learn  to  understand  his  physical  en- 
vironment in  practical  work  and  in  the  natural  sciences;  but  the 
experience  most  valuable  to  him  pertains  to  the  social  world  of 
human  beings  in  which  he  finds  himself.  These  he  cannot  understand 
unless  he  is  permitted  to  enter  into  and  possess  his  part  in  the  in- 
heritance of  America  as  this  has  been  handed  down  in  historical  and 
literary  form.   Since  the  literature  of  a  nation  is  an  interpretation© 
of  the  national  life  of  a  people,  it  gives  permanance  and  contin- 
uity to  ideals.   History  may  record  facts  but  literature  interprets 
their  meaning  in  terms  of  human  life.   "Our  literature  is  the  ex- 
pression of  Americanism;  it  is  the  embodiment  of  the  soul  of  Amer- 
ica. From  our  own  books  we  get  the  brave  adventures  of  pioneers 
and  the  splendid  deeds  of  the  makers  of  the  nation;  we  learn  how 
our  compatriots  live,  what  they  think  and  do;  we  catch  the  beauty  of 
our  streams  8Uid  hills,  the  sweep  of  the  prairie,  the  majesty  of 
mountains  and  canyons;  and  at  last  we  come  to  know  America  and  the 
democratic  ideals  for  which  she  stands". 

This  does  not  mean  that  we  should  set  American  literatiire  in 
apposition  to  English  literature,  but  an  appreciation  of  English  lit- 
erature should  not  prevent  our  taking  a  natural  pride  in  our  own 
authors.   It  is  said  when  Matthew  Arnold  said  to  Sainte  Beuve  that 
Lamaxtine  was  not  a  great  poet,  the  French  critic  wisely  replied, 
"He  is  important  to  us".  So  we  as  Americans  may  reply  to  critics  who 
depreciate  certain  American  authors:   "They  are  important  for  us", 
for  they  have  recorded  our  struggles,  shared  our  hopes,  and  embodied 
our  ideals.   In  his  History  of  French  Literature,  Brunetiere  de- 
clares that  every  race  must  be  the  judge  and  the  only  judge  of  its 
own  poets.  Although  our  American  authors  when  measured  by  universal 
and  permanent  standards  may  not  reach  a  high  place  in  the  scale  of 
literary  performance,  they  are  immensely  significant  for  us  in  that 
through  them  we  are  made  conscious  of  ourselves  as  a  nation.   Even 
if  our  people  had  remained  homogeneous,  this  would  still  have  been 
true,  but  it  is  vastly  more  important  when  we  consider  the  mixture  of 
races  in  this  country.   The  lesson  in  American  literature  may  well 
be  made  an  "initiation  into  the  cororate  life  of  America".  How  else 
can  we  hope  to  recreate  in  each  successive  generation  the  experience 
of  the  founders  of  our  nation  and  the  struggles  attending  its  de- 
velopment? How  else  can  we  hope  to  build  up  a  national  literary 
consciousness?  How  else  can  we  hope  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  really 
national  American  literature?  How  else  can  we  hope  to  co\interact 
the  influence  of  the  so-called  intellectuals  of  our  great  cities, 
men  "who  have  brains  and  ability  but  who  know  not  Israel"  axid   who 
would  rush  us  into  literary  internationalism  before  our  national 
literat\xre  has  had  time  to  come  into  its  own? 


\ 


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II 

If  it  ia  the  inalienable  right  of  every  child  to  discover  Amer- 
ica in  the  works  of  American  authors,  it  is  certainly  obvious  that 
all  that  ia  implied  here  cannot  be  accomplished  in  the  elementary 
grades,  but  that  the  study  of  American  literature  must  receive  more 
emphasis  in  the  high  school.  In  the  lower  grades  the  reading  matter 
ia  mainly  selected  from  our  own  authors.  This  is  the  natural  pro- 
cedure, and  ia  baaed  on  the  same  principle  which  the  elementary 
teacher  follows  in  the  teaching  of  history  and  geography  from  the 
local  center  outward.  This  excellent  foundation  should  be  crowned 
by  a  superstructure  of  American  literature  in  the  high  school.  But 
what  actually  happens  ia  that  the  atudy  of  American  literature  is 
practically  abandoned  in  the  high  school  for  that  of  English  lit- 
erat\are.  Moreover,  English  literatiore  is  taught  almost  purely  from 
the  aesthetic  point  of  view,  and  not  from  the  more  significant  point 
of  view  of  its  civic  content.   It  is  highly  desirable  that  the  sec- 
ondary pupil  should  gain  as  wide  an  acquaintance  with  the  world's 
best  literature,  but  it  is  far  more  necessary  that  he  gain  an  ap- 
preciation of  our  national  life  in  all  its  varied  phases  aa  mirrored 
in  literature.   In  many  of  our  high  achools  no  courae  in  American 
literature  is  offered;  in  a  few  it  appeara  as  an  elective  or  altern- 
ative course,  but  it  is  seldom  found  in  the  compulsory  English 
co\irses .  So  the  continuity  of  instruction  in  civic  ideals  through  A- 
merican  literature,  is  broken  when  the  pupil  comes  to  the  high  school. 
In  the  grades  the  reading  of  American  atories  and  poems  served  to 
ajouse  patriotic  emotions,  but  deep  and  abiding  loyalty  must  be 
based  on  intelligence.  The  American  citizen  must  needs  find  a  reason 
for  the  faith  that  is  in  him.  He  must  intellectually  group  the 
meaning  of  America.  His  feelings  must  be  widened  and  deepened  by 
xinderstanding ,  This  understanding  can  come  only  by  the  study  of 
American  literature  in  the  high  school.  To  know  the  spirit  of  the 
living  whole  of  our  national  life,  he  must  become  acquainted  with  the 
genius  of  the  varioua  parte,  that  is,  he  must  know  America  geograph- 
ically. Such  a  study  might  well  begin  with  the  literature  of  the 
pupil's  own  state,  especially  so  if  he  happens  to  live  in  a  so- 
called  "literary  state".   It  is  very  seldom  that  a  California  boy 
or  girl  is  acquainted  with  the  works  or  even  with  the  names  of 
present-day  California  writera,  such  as  Edwin  Uarkham,  George  Stir- 
ling, Gertrude  Atherton  etc.   They  have  never  heard  of  the  Overland 
Monthly.   They  do  not  know  that  gold  mines  richer  and  more  permanent 
than  any  of  those  discovered  in  the  fifties  were  opened  up  in  the 
West  by  Mark  Twain  and  Bret  Harte.   They  have  never  been  inspired 
with  the  faith  that  if  we  follow  the  trail  we  may  yet  rediscover 
the  lode. 

Such  writers  as  Bryant,  Whittier,  Hawthorne,  Sarah  Orne 
Jewett,  Mary  E.  Wilkins  Freeman,  Margaret  Deland,  William  Dean 
Howe lis,  and  many  others,  have  revealed  the  character  of  New  England 
aa  influenced  by  heredity  and  environment;  the  intensely  concen- 
trated life  of  our  great  cities  ia  mirrored  in  the  worka  of  0.  Henry 
and  Herrick;  Joel  Chandler  Harria,  F.  Hopkinson  Smith,  Thomas  Nelson 
Page  lead  us  into  the  heart  of  the  Old  South;  with  Miss  Murfree  we 
penetrate  the  mountains  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee;  we  feel  the  pulse 
of  the  great  Middle  West  in  the  pages  of  Riley,  Eggleeton,  and  Mark 
Twain:  we  croaa  the  Rockiea  to  live  with  the  cow-boy  and  the  miner 
in  the  tales  of  Owen  Wiater  and  Bret  Harte.   The  great  industrial 
life  of  America  speaks  to  us  in  the  novels  of  Frank  Norris,  Robert 


yxa:! 


JV   «J. 


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Herriok,  and  Margaret  Deland;  while  the  great  social  political  prob- 
lems are  stated,  if  not  solved,  by  Churchill,  Phillips,  Whitlock, 
London,  and  Poole.   Essayists  from  Emerson  to  Repplier  interpret  auid 
crystallize  ideals.  Historians  from  John  Smith  to  McMaster  create 
the  past  epochs  of  American  life.   Statesmen  from  Washington  to 
Wilson  voice  the  great  ideals  and  purposes  of  Americanism. 

In  the  popular  forms  of  the  short  story  and  the  one-act  play, 
American  life  is  presented  in  kaleidoscopic  fashion — stories  of  the 
frontier,  of  social  heritage,  of  American  landscape,  of  American 
community  life. 

Surely  in  view  of  the  riches  of  the  material  at  hand  and  the 
purpose  in  view — to  interpret  America  for  Americans — it  would  be  a 
very  modest  beginning  to  ask  that  at  least  one  semester  of  the  pre- 
scribed course  in  English  in  the  high  school  should  be  devoted  to  the 
study  of  American  literature;  ana  that  in  addition  to  this  the  sup- 
plementary reading  and  book  reports  in  the  other  High  School  grades 
be  made  in  the  field  of  American  literature.   It  would  seem  advisable 
to  adopt  the  best  available  text  in  the  History  of  American  litera- 
ture, to  be  used  advisedly,  not  as  a  strait- jacket,  but  as  an  in- 
telligent guide.  A  second  text  with  illustrative  masterpieces  should 
be  used  with  the  history. 

As  to  the  grade  into  which  such  a  coxirse  could  be  most  advan- 
tageously introduced,  it  would  seem  that,  all  things  considered,  the 
eleventh  year  would  be  the  most  suitable  time.   The  pupil  is  then 
sufficiently  mature  to  enter  into  the  literary  inheritance  of  America 
with  intelligent  enthusiasm.  Moreover,  such  a  course  would  form  an 
admirable  preparation  for  the  study  of  United  States  History  in  the 
twelfth  year. 

Ill 

It  is  an  interesting  commentary  on  American  education  that  while 
we  prominently  exhibit  the  portraits  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Alex- 
ander j/Hami  It  on,  Webster,  Lincoln,  Roosevelt  and  Wilson  in  our  school 
rooms,  the  living  words  of  these  statesmen,  for  the  most  part,  are 
conspicuous  by  their  absence  even  in  the  high  school.  Aside  from  the 
Gettysburg  Address  and  a  few  sporadic  quotations,  our  young  Americans 
are  entirely  igr^orant  of  the  great  contribution  of  these  men  to 
American  literature.  In  fact,  they  are  quite  surprised  to  find  them 
listed  among  oxir  national  literary  lights  at  all.  In  this  respect, 
the  situation  seems  to  be  growing  worse  instead  of  better.   Formerly 
the  English  curriculijm  in  the  Berkeley  High  School  contained  Webster's 
Reply  to  Haine,  Boardman's  Modern  American  Speeches,  Lowell's  Essay 
on  Lincoln,  Lowell's  Democracy,  the  Lincoln  Papers,  and  Democracy 
Today,  a  collection  of  war  addresses.   At  the  present  time  most  of 
these  have  been  dropped  from  the  covirse  because  the  majority  of 
English  teachers  consider  them  too  difficult  to  hold  the  Interest  of 
the  average  high  school  pupil.   There  was  a  time,  they  urge,  when 
only  the  select  few  went  to  high  school,  when  such  work  could  be  done 
profitably;  but  now  that  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry^,^ome  to  us  without 
cultural  background  and  fill  up  our  English  classes,  the  study  of 
such  works  cannot  be  done  successfully.  But  in  spite  of  this  fact, 
do  we  not  still  go  on  trying  to  teach  these  same  pupils  literary 
criticism,  which  is  certainly  more  remote  from  life  than  definitions 
of  democracy?  Does  the  difficulty  reside  in  the  task  itself  or  in 


T  TT 


the  lack  of  civic  interest  and  the  lack  of  resourcefulneaa  on  the  part 
of  the  teacher?  Surely  the  time  has  come  when  all  patriotic  English 
teachers  should  search  their  hearts  to  find  out  the  real  truth. 
Some  teachers^  believe  that  they  have  taught  these  masterpieces  with 
a  reasonable  degree  of  success.  Are  such  teachers  merely  deceiving 
themselves?   It  would  seem  as  though  the  average  teacher  of  English 
literature  stakes  her  all  upon  emotional  appeal.   The  realm  of  the 
pure  intellect  seems  cold  and  forbidding.  Thinking  in  logical 
sequence  is  a  process  laborious  and  repellent,  and  should  be  banished 
to  the  department  of  mathematics.   A  political  speech,  though  it  be 
built  like  a  Greek  temple,  does  not  stir  the  imagination.   Touching 
as  are  the  lines  of  Whitman's  "My  Captain",  even  more  touching  are 
the  words  of  Lincoln  in  the  Second  Inaugviral.   Many  consider  this  a 
greater  speech  than  the  Gettysburg  speech.  What  an  injustice  that 
young  America  should  not  read  it  J  Portraits  of  Lincoln  have  their 
place,  interpretations  of  the  character  of  Lincoln  have  their  place, 
but  nothing  can  be  a  substitute  for  the  sublime  words  of  Lincoln 
himself . 

Again,  we  talk  much  about  democracy,  our  young  men  gave  their 
lives  for  democracy,  most  of  them,  alas,  glimpsing  only  as  in  a  glass 
darkly  the  meaning  of  the  word.   Yet  we  are  unwilling  to  set  our- 
selves to  the  task  of  defining  this  great  ideal  for  otorselves  by  a 
study  of  Lowell's  incomparable  essay  on  Democracy,  because,  forsooth, 
it  is  too  hard  .'  It  would  seem  as  though  it  is  far  easier  to  die  for 
democracy  than  to  live  for  it  .'  If  our  soldiers  gave  their  lives  for 
it  on  the  field  of  battle,  should  not  American  teachers  be  willing 
to  give  themselves  with  passionate  devotion  to  the  illumination  of 
this  ideal.  The  art  of  literature  has  its  place  but  the  greatest 
art  of  all  is  the  art  of  living  together^ that  art  which  shall  lead 
us  into  the  mystery  and  beauty  of  the  shared  life,  the  life  of  co- 
operative endeavor  towaxds  the  realization  of  that  "far-off  divine 
event,  towards  which  the  whole  creation  moves"  }     But  while  it  is  in- 
spiring to  catch  glimpses  of  the  ultimate  goal,  what  we  have  to  do 
now  is  to  learn  to  take  the  next  step.   If  the  material  in  hand  does 
not  yield  to  former  methods  of  treatment,  then  we  shall  have  to  adopt 
the  truly  scientific  attitude  of  further  experiment.   In  the  scien- 
tific laboratory,  the  experimenter  does  not  grow  impatient  with  re- 
calcitrant material,  such  as  rubber  for  example,  but  he  continually 
resorts  to  new  methods  of  attack.   Through  the  organized  will  of 
English  teachers  as  a  body,  it  will  surely  be  possible  to  devise 
ways  and  means  of  presenting  to  young  America  the  best  that  has  been 
known  and  thoiight  in  America  by  the  statesmen  whose  portraits  adorn 
our  walls  and  who  are  in  danger  of  becoming  empty  symbols. 


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IV 

A  The  life  of  James  Russel  Lowell  considered  from  the  point  of.  view 
of  the  ob-iectives  of.  Civic  Education. 

The  study  of  the  life  of  Lowell  is  the  study  of  personality 
endowed  with  the  highest  type  of  social  intelligence.  He  was  first 
of  all  a  citizen  and  incidentally  a  poet;  but  it  was  his  poetic 
imagination  that  enabled  him  to  glorify  citizenship,  to  reveal  the 
significance  of  a  manis  relation  to  the  state.   He  is  the  citizen 
thinking,  the  citizen  feeling  and  the  citizen  doing.   He  was  vividly 
alive,  responding  beyond  the  ordinary  man  to  the  call  of  civic  duty. 
If  we  attempt  to  measure  him  in  terms  of  the  objectives  of  civic  ed\i- 
sation  that  we  have  set  up  in  this  seminar,  we  shall  find  that  at  no 
place  was  he  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting.   He  understood 
the  social  life  of  his  country  and  that  of  England.   He  understood  and 
enthusiastically  supported  the  creed  of  American  democracy.  He  voiced  on 
all  acoasions  in  pi?ose  and  verse  the  doctrine  of  human  brotherhood  with  all 
the  related  ideas  of  equality,  freedom,  and  social  justice.  He  was  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  various  embodiments  of  the  democratic  theory  in 
institutional  life,  especially  with  the  institutions  as  established  in 
our  own  country.  His  judgments  were  never  narrow  and  provincial  but 
were  made  in  the  light  of  history  and  based  upon  a  highly  developed 
national  consciousness.   His  faith  in  the  creed  of  American  democracy 
was  never  shaken.  Both  with  tongue  and  pen  he  strove  to  interpret 
life  for  the  common  good.   In  irhe  whole  gamut  of  his  feelings  he  was 
thoroughly  American  and  his  conduct  squared  every  inch  of  the  way 
with  his  pleaching.   But  with  all,  his  civie  welfare  was  not  forbidding 
and  austere.   In  the  light  of  his  genial  humor,  egotism  and  invective 
had  no  place.   He  never  lost  sight  of  "that  thread  of  all -sustaining 
beauty  that  doth  run  through  all  and  doth  all  unite." 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  Lowell  furnishes  such  an  admirable 
example  of  the  American  citizen,  the  presentation  of  his  life  in  the 
•lass-room  may  eadily  become  conventional  and  academic.   Unless  the 
teacher  has  a  sincere  enthusiastic  admiration  for  him  herself,  she 
eannot  hope  to  kindle  that  admiration  in  others.   There  must  be  the 
"Understanding  Heart." 


B,   How  can  a  study  of  Lowell's  "Democracy"  contribute  to  the 
intellectual  objectives  of  dvio  Education? 

It  has  been  said  that  after  a  child  has  learned  to  open  his 
eyes  and  see  he  should  learn  to  shut  them  and  think.  For  this  purpose 
there  is  eertainly  no  masterpiece  better  fitted  for  an  American  youth 
to  try  his  wits  on  then  Lowell's  Democracy.   In  seeking  to  gain  a 
clearer  conception  of  this  much  used  and  much  abused  term,  a  deeper 
understanding  of  human  brotherhood,  equality,  freedom,  justice  and 


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popular  sovereignity  will  certainly  result.   The  essay  as  a  whole  may 
bo  eonsidered  a  refutation  of  the  oharge  that  America  is  responsible 
for  infecting  the  old  world  with  a  new  and  dangerous  desease  known  as 
democracy.  Lowell  first  shows  that  democracy  as  a  spirit  is  nothing 
new  but  that  it  began  with  the  advent  of  man  ofPtnis  ;^anet  and, has 
always  been  in  evidence  whenever  circumstances  have  been  proplttius. 
He  audaciously  asserts  that  the  basic  ideas  of  American  democracy 
were  inherited  from  the  British  Constitution.   Having  shown  that 
democracy  is  nothing  new,  he  proceeds  to  point  out  that  it  is  not 
dangerous,  being  due  to  inevitable  growth  against  which  it  is  uneless 
to  contend.  Every  age  is  an  age  of  transition  and  this  transition 
becomes  dangerous  only  when  it  is  too  abrupt.  Every  change  for  th© 
better  in  human  history  feaa  been  opposed  by  great  and  good  men, 
examples  in  point  being  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  trade  unions,  recogniton  of  the  rights  of  Jews,  Unitarianism. 

(Here  the  pupil  should  be  asked  to  bring  in  additional  examples, 
and  to  forecast  that  judgment  of  the  future  upon  our  reactionary 
Senate  and  its  attitude  towards  the  League  of  Nations.  Is  our  present 
attitude  towards  Japan  unenlightened?  This  portion  of  the  essay 
is  excellent  for  developing  the  need  of  historical  perspective  as  a 
basis  for  judgment.) 

Lowell  declares  that  fear  of  democracy  is  due  either  to  a 
guilty  conscience  on  the  part  of  the  ruling  classes  or  to  a  lack  of 
understanding  of  what  democracy  really  is.   It  is  not  really  democracy 
that  the  better  class  of  people  really  fear  but  what  they  erroneotxsly 
eoneeive  to  be  its  necessary  adjuncts  and  consequences,  such  as  the 
following: 

1,  The  reduction  of  all  mankind  to  a  dead  level  of  mediocrity 
in  character  and  culture, 

2,  A  vulgarization  of  men's  conception  of  life  and  their  ood© 
of  morals,  manners  and  conduct, 

31  The  endangering  of  the  rights  of  private  property  and  possessions! 

(The  essay  up  to  this  point  may  very  well  be  presented  in  class 
under  the  fomn  of  a  mock  trial,  the  old  world  being  the  plaintiff  and 
the  America  the  defendant.  The  class  assemble  as  a  court  with  judge, 
lawyers,  witnesses^  etc.   The  lawyers  will  prepare  briefs  upon  which 
they  will  base  their  arguments.  Additional  charges  may  be  presented 
from  a  later  discussion  of  this  topic  in  the  essay  and  from  those 
discussed  in  Bryce's  American  Commonwealth  (abridged  edition).) 


The  second  main  division  of  the  essay  is  given  over  to  a 
discussion  of  various  definitions  of  democracy:  (l)  the  political 
definition  of  Lincoln,  "Democracy  is  government  fif  the  people,  by  the 


iBcan 


erf^ 


people,  for  the  people; (2)  the  social  and  ethical  definition  of  Theo- 
dore Parker,  "Democracy  is  summed  up  not  in  the  expression  'I'm  as 
good  as  you  are'."  Christ  is  pointed  out  as  the  first  true  democrat. 
Democracy  is  co-entensive  with  Christianity. 

(In  dealing  with  this  part  of  the  essay,  I  have  found  the  follow- 
ing procedure  effective:   Before  reading  Lowell's  discussion  of  the 
definitions,  ask  the  members  of  the  class  to  write  down  off-hand  the 
best  definition  of  democracy  that  they  can  make.   These  are  signed  and 
left  with  the  teacher.   Then  they  are  aSked  to  look  the  word  up  in  the 
dictionary,  noting  its  derivation,  and  to  bring  in  definitions  given 
by  members  of  the  family  or  friends.  The  result  of  this  invariably 
reveals  that  the  pupils  conceive  of  democracy  as  a  form  of  government, 
and  not  as  a  state  of  mind  or  spirit;  a  mechanical  contrivajice,  and  not 
a  living  relation  between  the  members  of  a  group.  After  completing  the 
study  of  the  essay,  the  members  are  asked  to  make  another  definition 
of  democracy  and  compare  it  with  the  first  one  given  to  the  teacher.) 


The  thl]?d  main  division  of  the  essay  treats  of  Democracy  in 
Ameriea: 

(1)  The  conception  of  democracy  of  the  founders  of  the  reputlic. 

(2)  The  unequalled  advantages  and  apportunities  of  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution. 

(3)  The  success  of  the  American  experiment  In  democt^acy. 

Here  perhaps  the  most  striking  idea  presented  is  that  the  framers 
of  the  American  Constitution  did  not  attempt  to  found  a  democracy  in 
the  strict  sense  of  the  term.  Their  practical  problem  was  to  adt^t 
English  principles  and  preclaents  to  the  new  conditions  of  America. 
They  were  not  mere  theorists,  seduced  by  the  French  fallacy  that  a 
system  of  government  can  be  made  to  order  like  a  suit  of  clothes. 
Conservative  by  natrire,  they  recognized  the  value  of  tradition  and 
habit  as  the  basis  of  permanence  and  stability.   The  nature  of  their 
creed  made  them  profoundly  distrust  human  nature  and  so  they  safe- 
guarded the  government  against  the  weakness  of  politicians  and  the 
whims  of  the  people  by  introducing  a  system  of  checks  and  balances. 


The  fourth  main  division  of  the  essay  is  a  defense  of  democrati© 
government  in  general,  with  a  discussion  of  the  advantages  of  universal 
suffrage,  and  a  refutation  of  current  oojectlons  to  democratic  forms 
of  government.  Such  statements  as  the  following  pi»ovoke  discussion 
that  cannot  fall  to  deepen  the  pupil's  understanding  of  the  workings  of 
democracy: 


^  'i     >  J-        (i       ^  _t  f 

boM  b9{i  H  eats         .         1  aA» 

«n*  >iOoX   Of   foe 


^  J.^  ^  -     k    J. 


•IXdi  io  Biafcfrffo'i  to  \;«jb^c  votiqr  ri 


Tf^r-fiT**   srfj-  d-flrfj  al  be^rtoaertq  £©foi  snlailn--    

^T  jb  fxu/ol   oi  Jqxii6i<tB   Jon  bib  rtolJi/JU' 
o^t  8BW  -q  IjBo2oC£tq  lie  .   "^leJ  e 

'  -A    lO    t  --      '        •• 

£  yojei  ^.  ,      , 

.aoriJoic  .8   B  e>'lX  i^b^o   o.t   sbgrn  ©cf  n«©  c 

bxxB  rroiJ-1  £;...";  i  lo   ©i'l£V   ©rlJ-  f- 

i2?f!J   lo   —•*'■-  -'•^'      .^JilldBJfc 

bnfl  enBloiiiloq  lo  jiow  ©' 

iilBCf    baj8    83{0©fiO    lo    filbjav 


oliB'!'  O^    8ftOf. 

ib  esovonq 


1,  The  right  to  vote  makes  a  safety  valve  of  every  voter. 

2.  The  best  way  to  teach  a  man  how  to  vote  Is  to  give  him  the 
right  to  practice. 

3.  It  is  less  dangerous  to  give  all  men  the  vote  than  to  withhold 
it,  for  the  ballot  in  their  hands  is  less  dangerous  to  society 
than  a  sense  of  wrong  in  their  heads, 

4,  The  assertion  that  Vn9   right  to  vote  is  not  valued  when  it  is 
bestowed  indiscriminately  is  only  partially  true. 

5,  Those  who  have  the  divine  right  to  govern  will  govern  in  the 
end,  while  the  highest  privilege  to  which  the  majority  of  men 
can  aspire  is  that  of  being  govenned  by  those  wiser  than  they. 

6.  (  Refutation)   The  statement  is  not  true  that  the  inevitable 
i»esults  of  democracy  are: 

a.  To  sap  the  foundations  of  personal  independence. 

b.  To  wealcen  the  principle  of  authority. 

e.  To  lessen  the  respect  due  to  eminence,  whether  in 
station,  virtue, or  genius. 

.7,   (Refutation)  Democracies  do  not  make  any  more  mistakes  in 
the  selection  of  their  popular  heroes  than  do  monarchies. 

(The  above  propositions  may  be  assigned  to  individuals  for 
discussion,  illustration,  and  proof,  briefs  being  made  in  each  case.) 


In  the  fifth  main  division,  Lowell  arrives  at  his  own  definition 
of  democracy,  namely,  "Democracy  is  that  form  of  government,  no  matter 
what  its  political  classification,  in  which  every  man  has  a  change  and 
knows  that  ho  has  it." 

(Here  there  is  a  fine  opportunity  for  discussion  and  illustration 
of  what  Lov/ell  means  by  "a  chance",  and  why  it  is  necessary  to  "know 
that  one  has  it."   Blindness  to  opportunity  is  the  cause  of  most  failures.) 

Following  the  definition,  Lowell  discusses  public  opinion,  upon 
which  he  declares  free  government  depends.   He  shows  that  public 
opinion  must  be  safeguarded  by  the  education  of  the  people  so  that  they 
may  be  protected  from  the  illogical  demands  of  false  socialism.  Here 
several  striking  statements  challenge  attention: 

1,  False  socialism  is  the  greatest  menace  ^  a  democracy. 

2.  Conditions  and  fortunes  can  never  be  equalized,  for  we  can 
never  equalize  brains. 


.tOvtov  yrt' 


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3.  Unless  something  is  done  to  correct  enormous  unequalities  in 
wealth  trouble  must  come. 

4,  True  sociiilism  is  only  applied  Christianity  and  Applied 
Christianity  is  democracy. 

(In  this  connection  there  is  a  fine  opportunity  to  discuss  the 
meaning  of  equality,  industrial  democracy,  etc.,  with  illustrations 
from  present  day  conditons.) 


The  conclusion  is  characteristically  optimistic.  The  hope  of  the 
future  lies  not  in  violent  cha'^es,  nor  in  the  public  charity  of  wealth, 
for  this  is  only  a  palliative,  but  in  developing  «£  a  more  sensitive 
social  conscience  which  will  lead  us  to  the  discovery  of  ways  and  means 
of  extirpating  social  injustice.  We  should  not  be  fearful  of  the  future, 
for 

1.  Violent  changes  are  not  necessary. 

2.  The  misfortunes  hardest  to  bear  are  those  that  never  come, 

3.  The  world  has  lived  througli  many  changes. 

4.  Brawn  will  never  weigh  as  much  as  brain. 

5.  The  voice  of  conscience  will  always  be  a  sa£e  guide. 

C.  How  can  a  study  of  Lowell's  Democracy  contribute  to  the  "feeling 
objectives"  of  Civic  Education? 

The  widening  and  deepening  of  the  understanding  of  the  meaning 
of  democracy  with  its  implied  terms,  human  brotherhood,  equality, 
freedom,  and  justice,  cannot  help  but  react  favorably  on  the  emotional 
attitudes  of  the  pupil.  He  has  more  repsect  for  his  feelings  when  he 
discovers  that  they  are  grounded  in  reason.   "Loyalty,  to  be  deep  and 
abiding,  must  be  intelligent."  Lowell's  enthusiasm  for  his  subject  is 
contagious,   Back  of  his  abstract  reasoning  lies,  a  great  fund  of  suppress- 
ed emotion,  which  makes  its  presence  felt  both  An  sudden  sallies  of  wit 
and  humor,  and  in  effective  imagery.^  and  allusion.  The  literary  quality 
of  the  essay  is  due  chiefly  to  this'  suffusing  of  intellect  with  emotion. 
An  example  in  point  is  the  reference  to  the  profound  parable  of  the 
Persian  poet,  Jellaladeen:   "One  knocked  at  the  Beloved's  door,  and  a 
voice  asked  from  within,  'Who  is  there?'   and  he  asnswered  'It  is  I'. 
Then  the  voice  said,  'This  house  will  not  hold  me  and  thee';  and  the 
door  was  not  opened.  Then  went  the  lover  into  the  desert  and  fasted 
and  pRayed  in  solitude,  and  after  a  year  he  returned  and  knocked 
again  at  the  door;  and  again  the  voice  asked  'Who  is  the  re  "^  '  and  he 


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said  "It  is  thyself;'  and  the  door  was  opened  to  him." 

The  prxjfound  meaning  of  this  parable  merits  considerable  emphasis, 
for  hert^democracy  is  presented  as  the  miracle  of  the  sharped  life,  A 
review  of  the  story  of  "The  Vison  of  Sir  Launfal",  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  transfiguration  of  the  leper  at  the  close,  will  fit  in  very 
well  at  this  point. 

Other  passages  full  offing  emotional  quality  are  the  following: 

1.  "To  the  door  of  every  generation  there  comes  a  knocking,  and 
unless  the  household  like  the  Thane  of  Cawdor  and  hiS  wife,  have  been 
doing  some  deed  without  a  name,  they  need  not  shudder.   It  turns  out 
at  worst  to  be  a  poor  relation  who  wishes  to  come  in  out  of  the  cold. 
The  porter  always  grumbles  and  is  slow  to  open.  "V/ho's  ther?,  in  the 
name  of  Beelzebub"?  he  mutters.  There  has  never  been  a  change  for  the 
better  in  human  housekeeping  that  was  not  opposed  by  wise  and  good 
men." 

2.  "The  beggar  is  in  the  saddle  at  last",  cries  proverbial 
Wisdom.   "V/hy  in  the  name  of  all  former  experience,  doesn't  he  ride 
to  the  Devil?"  because  in  the  very  act  of  mounting  he  ceased  to  be  a 
beggar  and  became  part  owner  in  the  piece  of  property  he  bestrides." 

This  is  a  very  subtle  passage  and  one  that  repays  discussion, 
involving,  as  it  does,  such  democratic  arrangements  as  profit  sharing. 
Perhaps  in  the  light  of  this  illiistration,  we  might  explain  why  Jack 
London  practically  ceased  to  be  a  socialist  after  he  became  the  owner 
of  a  Californian  ranch. 

3.  "It  should  not  be  overlooked  that  the  acorn  from  which  our 
democracy  sprang  was  ripened  on  the  British  Oak.   Every  successive 
swarm  from  this  afficlna  gentium  has,  when  left  to  its  own  instincts  - 
may  I  not  call  them  hereditary  instincts  -  assumed  a  more  or  less 
thoroughlydemocratic  form.   This  v/ould  seem  to  show,  what  I  believe 

to  be  a  fact,  that  the  British  Constitution,  under  whatever  disguises 
of  prudence  or  decorum,  is  essentially  democractic," 

The  latter  is  a  very  good  example  of  the  truth  of  Lowell's 
statement  that  "  a  metaphor  is  no  ajggument,  though  it  be  sometimes 
the  gunpowder  to  drive  one  home  and  imbed  it  in  the  memory." 

The  essay  as  a  whole  is  calculated  to  develop  a  deep  and  abiding 
faith  in  the  creed  of  American  Democracy,  especially  with  reference  to 
the  future.  Lowell  pK  himself  as  an  example  ought  to  inspire  the 
pupil  to  nobler  living.  Lowell  was  not  only  a  representative  of  his 
country  abroad  but  a  representative  citizen  at  home.   In  the  same 
sense  every  American  Gitlzen/is  a  representative  of  his  country  and 
should  be  ever  conscious  oX^is  civic  responsibility. 


YE  06937 


677646 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  UBRARY 


